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Agence France Presse
Dec 11 2004
German coup suspect in Equatorial Guinea died of torture: co-prisoner
BERLIN, Dec 11 (AFP) - A German who died in March in Equatorial
Guinea's notorious Black Beach prison whwere he was held on suspicion
of involvement in a coup plot, was tortured to death, a South African
who was in jail with him said in an interview published Saturday in
the Frankfurter Rundschau daily.
Officials in Equatorial Guinea said on March 18 that Gerhard Eugen
Merz, a logistics expert who worked for a German air freight company
in the Equatorial Guinea capital Malabo, had died of cerebral malaria
just over a week after being arrested along with 14 other suspected
putsch plotters.
But one of Merz's co-accused, 56-year-old South African Mark Schmidt,
told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the German was "beaten and burned
on the soles of his feet" in the few days he was in jail.
According to the paper, Merz's body was repatriated in June and the
prosecutor's office in Frankfurt had ordered a post-mortem to be
carried out to determine the cause of death.
But the prosecutor's office has refused to say if the post-mortem
showed that Merz had been tortured, and even months after the
autopsy, has said its investigations are still ongoing, said the
paper.
"Incredible," was Schmidt's reaction in the paper.
"Didn't they see the burn marks on Gerhard's feet? The scrapes on the
tibia and the large scar on his chest?" he asked.
Schmidt dismissed reports that Merz had died of malaria.
"I've had malaria four times. The symptoms are completely different."
Schmidt was released from prison last week after spending nine months
behind bars.
German-born Schmidt was one of three South Africans who were
acquitted late last month of plotting to oust Equato-Guinean
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Five South Africans and six
Armenians were given stiff jail sentences, as were an Equato-Guinean
opposition leader and his government-in-exile.
During his time in jail, Schmidt said that he and his co-detainees
"all became religious and prayed four times a day.
"Otherwise, we would not have been able to stand the beatings, the
disease."
Dec 11 2004
German coup suspect in Equatorial Guinea died of torture: co-prisoner
BERLIN, Dec 11 (AFP) - A German who died in March in Equatorial
Guinea's notorious Black Beach prison whwere he was held on suspicion
of involvement in a coup plot, was tortured to death, a South African
who was in jail with him said in an interview published Saturday in
the Frankfurter Rundschau daily.
Officials in Equatorial Guinea said on March 18 that Gerhard Eugen
Merz, a logistics expert who worked for a German air freight company
in the Equatorial Guinea capital Malabo, had died of cerebral malaria
just over a week after being arrested along with 14 other suspected
putsch plotters.
But one of Merz's co-accused, 56-year-old South African Mark Schmidt,
told the Frankfurter Rundschau that the German was "beaten and burned
on the soles of his feet" in the few days he was in jail.
According to the paper, Merz's body was repatriated in June and the
prosecutor's office in Frankfurt had ordered a post-mortem to be
carried out to determine the cause of death.
But the prosecutor's office has refused to say if the post-mortem
showed that Merz had been tortured, and even months after the
autopsy, has said its investigations are still ongoing, said the
paper.
"Incredible," was Schmidt's reaction in the paper.
"Didn't they see the burn marks on Gerhard's feet? The scrapes on the
tibia and the large scar on his chest?" he asked.
Schmidt dismissed reports that Merz had died of malaria.
"I've had malaria four times. The symptoms are completely different."
Schmidt was released from prison last week after spending nine months
behind bars.
German-born Schmidt was one of three South Africans who were
acquitted late last month of plotting to oust Equato-Guinean
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Five South Africans and six
Armenians were given stiff jail sentences, as were an Equato-Guinean
opposition leader and his government-in-exile.
During his time in jail, Schmidt said that he and his co-detainees
"all became religious and prayed four times a day.
"Otherwise, we would not have been able to stand the beatings, the
disease."